The former chairwoman of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) has attacked the Federal Government for a lack of effort on the Stolen Generation in the last decade.

Lowitja O'Donohue, a member of the Stolen Generation, has addressed a gathering at Parliament House in Canberra to mark 10 years since the 'Bringing Them Home' report.

Ms O'Donohue says of the 54 recommendations made in the report, 35 have been ignored.

"That is two thirds. The Prime Minister either doesn't get it or he doesn't care and I'm not sure which is worse," she said.

"There has been a failure of moral authority and ethical leadership in Australia over the last 10 years.

"This country is in a position to be a world leader in human rights and social justice. Instead it is, as Aboriginal people would say, a shame job."

But the Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough says the Government has committed an extra $2 million a year to help people reconnect with their families.

"What Lowitja has just said on some aspects I clearly would disagree, but in many aspects I want to state that I believe that the work that is being undertaken today is the beginning of what must continue for many years to come," he said.

It was not enough to win over the audience, much of it Aboriginal. Health Minister Tony Abbott received some heckling.

Sorry

Mr Brough does not believe the issue of an apology for the Stolen Generation is of major concern.

"The key recommendations have not been ignored," he said.

"The things that make a difference about linking people up, I mean that's what this is about.

"People are talking about they did not know where they came from, they did not know where their roots were.

"That is difficult work, it is painstaking work and that is work that we have committed to with additional resources."

All 53 recommendations are important to Ms O'Donohue, including an apology.

"We can forgive but we can't forget," she said.

"But it's important that we move on. And for some, until they hear the word 'sorry' they won't move on."

Question Time

Meanwhile, Indigenous affairs was the subject of the first question to the Prime Minister this afternoon, from the Opposition leader Kevin Rudd.

"Will the Prime Minister consider joining with me in committing to the three things that define reconciliation, as Jackie Huggins, co-chair of Reconciliation Australia has identified: recognition of the first people of this country, justice to overcome disadvantage - in particular the 17-year life expectancy gap - and healing so that all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, can move forward?" he said.

Labor is promising to offer a formal apology to the Stolen Generation, in contrast to the Government, which all along has argued for a practical rather than symbolic approach.

Prime Minister John Howard has not changed his mind on the matter.

"I have a different attitude to the Labor Party in relation to a formal apology," he said.

"My view has not changed in relation to that and it will not change, I don't expect the Labor Party's to change.

"I have always held the view that the best way to help the Indigenous people of this nation is to give them the greatest possible access to the bounty and good fortune of this nation and that cannot happen unless they are absorbed into our mainstream."